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Immigration/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim & Moby. A boy, Tim, and a robot, Moby, are ordering food from a food cart in Portugal. A Ferris wheel and a building with a rocket on its roof are visible in the background. TIM: Uh, uma … uma … Hey, how do you say “meatball sandwich” in Portuguese? MOBY: Beep! Beep! Beep! Tim addresses the man working in the food cart. TIM: Um sanduíche do almôndega, por favor! TIM: Dear Tim & Moby, My social studies teacher said America is a country of immigrants. What does that mean? From, Myra. Your teacher’s right; America was founded, colonized, and built up to what it is today mostly by immigrants and their children. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Immigrants are people who settle in a country they weren’t born in. An animation shows dashed line connecting two continents on a map. TIM: Except for American Indians and Native Hawaiians, pretty much every citizen of the United States is either from another country or descended from people from other countries. A map of the United States is shown. An animation adds several figures with different flags above their heads to the map. TIM: As opposed to a place like, say, China, where most people belong to families who’ve lived there for thousands of years! A map of China is shown, and an animation adds several figures with Chinese flags above their heads. TIM: The original settlers of the 13 American colonies came mainly from European countries, especially Great Britain. An animation shows a dashed line connecting the United States and Great Britain on a map. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, they came for a few reasons. Many of them were poor and attracted by the almost unlimited economic opportunity of a new land. An animation shows a village in the mountains. The village has several buildings, and a few people are shown standing on the main street. TIM: Many were escaping religious intolerance in their home countries. In America, there was much less control over people’s religious beliefs. An animation shows a road with two churches on opposite sides of it. One church is labeled "Catholic," and the other is labeled "Protestant." TIM: … and political beliefs. An image shows a man holding a stack of papers in one hand and a pamphlet labeled “Crackpot Newsletter” in the other. TIM: Finally, there was space; America had tons of unpopulated land compared to Europe. Those same things—money, freedom, and space—continued to drive American immigration over the next few hundred years. MOBY: Beep. TIM: 'Right, in the case of African slaves, the immigration to America was a forced one. Most of them didn't get a chance to taste America and prosperity until the Civil War ended in 1865. ''An image shows African slaves walking on a ramp onto a boat while their hands are handcuffed. '''TIM: In the eighteen hundreds, the United States encouraged immigration, almost without any restrictions. Starting in the eighteen forties, immigrants flooded into the country, escaping war, hunger, and poverty in their home countries. Millions of those newcomers passed through Ellis Island, an immigration processing center that opened in New York Harbor in eighteen ninety-two. An animation shows a boat arriving in New York Harbor with the Statue of Liberty in the background. TIM: Twelve million immigrants, mostly from Europe, passed through there, and it’s estimated that nearly one out of four Americans can trace an ancestor back to Ellis Island! These days, one and a half million immigrants from around the world enter the United States every year! And because the demand to get in is still so high, countless undocumented immigrants arrive each year, too. Those are immigrants who come into the country without the government’s permission. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Yeah, you can’t just move to whatever country you want. Even if you’re just visiting for a short time, like on vacation, government workers called customs agents will check you when you arrive. A split screen shows images of a customs agent at an airport, and a customs worker checking the documents of a person passing through a checkpoint in a truck. TIM: Illegal immigration has become kind of a big deal. Some people believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States and work toward getting their citizenship. They argue that these immigrants are what the American dream is all about—giving everyone a chance to make better lives for themselves. An animation shows the American flag waving in the wind with a rainbow shown in the background. TIM: Others say that offering citizenship to people who’ve snuck into the country isn’t fair to the ones who’ve followed the rules and are still waiting to get in. An animation shows a person on live television addressing viewers. TIM: It’s a controversial issue because so many Americans have immigrants in their families. Like me! My father’s grandparents arrived at Ellis Island from Wales in the 1920s. A family tree diagram shows images of Tim’s grandparents on his father’s side, Tim's parents, and Tim. TIM: And my mother— MOBY: Beep? TIM: My great-grandpa does not have a speech impediment! It’s an accent … a Welsh accent. Anyway, my mother’s family immigrated from Japan. A family tree diagram shows images of Tim's grandparents on his mother's side, Tim's parents, and Tim. TIM: Are you going to mock my grandmother now? Moby shakes his head.Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts